Emergency of 1975

Indira Gandhi justified the emergency of 1975 on the ground that she was trying to protect the state. The real reasons behind the emergency was that Allahabad High Court in 1975 declared Indira Gandhis election to the Lok Sabha in 1971 from the constituency of Rae Bareli as being void on the grounds of electoral malpractice. Mrs. Gandhi approached the Supreme Court of India to obtain a stay order (suspension) as regards the judgment of the Allahabad High Court. The Supreme Court ruled in her favour and granted the stay of the judgment. It stated that Mrs. Gandhi would continue to remain a member of Parliament, however, she will not be allowed to participate in parliamentary proceedings or vote on matters. The court separately stated that this would not affect Mrs. Gandhis position as Prime Minister, allowing her to participate in the proceedings of the Parliament in her capacity as Prime Minister (without a right to vote) and perform other functions as Prime Minister. The emergency was declared soon after.

There was a lot of outrage among the politically aware about the suspension of rights and the imprisonment of opposition politicians. The ?BBC World service radio was the de facto source of reliable ?news in the presence of censorship. There was immense IMF pressure on India to achieve some numbers in population control program. Thats why forced terilizations vasectomies were carried out. Men were captured from their fields and streets and taken to hospitals where vasectomies were carried out. Sanjay Gandhi was the most hated for his excesses and for his extra constitutional control over all aspects of government. It was an age of uncertainty where peopled could be sacked, arrested and even disappear somewhere, if they had the audacity to speak out their mind.The sudden withdrawal of the emergency was unexpected, but was greeted with relief in 1977.